For most of his adult life, the man taking trips to Europe, Mexico and North Africa by riding freight trains, hitchhiking and depending on the kindness of strangers who offered food, shelter and working at odd jobs.
In July of this year, he decided to built a boat from scrapwood, 55-gallon plastic barrels, a pair of French doors and a couple of outboard motors. The first 700 miles was a pleasant float down the Mississippi River. Somewhere along Illinois, a towboat got too close to the drifter's pontoon and caused it to capsize. The man escaped unharmed but his boat was somewhere in the murky water.
The man's brother who has a stable real job as a food broker, commented that everyone wishes they did not have to work and just travel whenever they wanted to. I too wish I did not have to work. I would like to be able to travel around the world, to have a lot of free time to read books, to do volunteer work and definitely not worry about a paying job.
My youngest brother, L, a talented cartoonist, works as network administrator. I am sure L would love to work at a place where he would be able to combine his drawing talents, passion for learning and knowledge of computer.
My sister, V would love to get paid to travel the world then write or report about the places she visited. In a perfect world, we would all getting paid for doing what we love. In a perfect world, I would be a university professor with tenure, giving lectures at conferences, signing my books to the adoring fans and living in a house with a wrap-around porch overlook the Mississippi River. Every morning, I would sit in an enclosed upper desk, drinking coffee and watching the eagles flying towards the horizon.
In a perfect world, I would live in Alaska in July & August because it is humid and 95 degrees in St. Louis. From September thru the end of November, I would travel around the world. I would come back to visit family during December (I'll be home for Christmas). I would live in Detroit to watch my favorite hockey team, the Detroit Red Wings and all the hockey games on Canadian television. I also make time for my football games, between Notre Dame (college football) and New England Patriots (pro football). Late June, after the Stanley Cup playoffs, I would continue my travel in between baseball games and golf.
This week I received my Social Security Statement provided free-of-charge from Social Security Administration. I don't know how I started receiving the statements yearly. Perhaps I made the request or statements are sent automatically to all taxpayers. Or it could be the government is trying to show that my tax dollars are at work by providing this service. The statement shows the amount I would receive if I work until 62 years old. I would receive more if I work until full retirement age of 67 (a few years ago it was 65). There are also estimate benefits paying to the surviving family members. The good news is that I have earned enough credits to qualify for Medicare when I am 65.
Actually, there are people who live in a perfect world, celebrities and professional sports. All these people doing what they love and getting a lot of money. Since I am not beautiful and have a good agent to compete against Ms. Nicole Kidman. Since I am not tall to even getting a tryout with the Chicago Bulls, not strong and fast to be a receiver for the New England Patriots, not talented to be a right-wing for the Detroit Red Wings, I guess I should count my blessings that I have a decent paying job, a good home and a brand new laptop with wireless connection capability.
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